Legends: Diversion
by Toilet Paper Roll
Summary: Things are not all that they seem, especially in the darkness of the shadows. Ages come and go with the times, lives gained and lost, all the while the diversion of life walks on by. Set two years after BEGINNINGS, there is a new threat that is coming with the old. *Illusion of Gaia-centered*
1. Prologue: Passing Of Time

Legends: Diversion

Disclaimer: **I do not own anything that is related, remotely related, or is in the game, **_Illusion of Gaia_**. It is owned by Enix and all related companies. All Original Characters, Stories, and anything that is not in, related to, or remotely related to the game, was solely created for creative and entertainment purposes. Thank you for your time.**

Author's Note:** Well here it goes again in the way of a new **_Legends_** story. The same applies as before: taking some liberty here and there with canon if/when it applies, Freedan and Shadow are separate characters, and so on and so forth. Again while the first chapter is told in the first person POV, the rest will be done in a different POV (Kat's, Freedan's, etc.). I will say that there will be some jumping around from different perspectives here and there but generally I'll be sticking to Kat's POV – any readers of this story will know when there is another character's POV.**

**The only difference between **_Beginnings_** and **_Diversion_** is the fact that I'm interjecting a LOT MORE of original stuff in this one. Like **_Beginnings_**, this story is meant as another stepping stone into a larger world. Eventually I **_will_** put more characters from the game into the stories, if only by name for the moment, but for now I need to set the stage for everything else first. Again, if you don't like anything about these stories the back button is your friend. I won't be offended by it, pinky promise.**

**I am also sorry that it took me such a long time to get this story out. I am still not completely done with it but am ahead far enough where I feel comfortable somewhat to start putting chapters up.**

Prologue – **Passing Of Time**

_Whatever begins, also ends_ - **Seneca**

_It's strange that two years have passed since I was on Kara's Keep, when it seems like only yesterday I had stepped off of the boat from the main island back onto the port dock. I was still in shock over what had happened, even when I was back in my mother's home not even three days later. It did not hit me until that moment that I would not see the main island again for a long period of time, if my mother could help it. My brother, even now, still does not believe my father is gone; he still is in complete denial about it. For the first few weeks I let it slide then as the first half of my senior year at school ended, I no longer had the patience for him. Once the New Year began I found myself walking away from him, trying to keep my cool and not using the dark nature of the ring. Even our mother became frustrated with him and smacked him on the head several times to get him out of his stupor. Our father wasn't coming back and, if he did, it wouldn't be in the same form I once knew him as._

_They cannot know the full truth of what had happened on Kara's Keep. Even with this journal I take care of what I write, knowing that anyone can just pick it up and read it. Unlike the journals I kept as a child, however, this one is locked up tightly in a folder somewhere in my small apartment. The physiologist said that it would help me by writing what really happened on that island and give her pages of it to better understand what I had gone through. Writing it out won't help; no one would really believe that I spent several days with an immortal knight while meeting Mother Nature and taking on a snake-woman. No, what I have really wrote and what I gave to the damn physiologist was two different things. I only went to her eight sessions so that the lawyers, police departments, and other such persons would see that I was not insane and they would get off my back._

_The 'head doctor' labeled me as perfectly sane, lawyers spent hours arguing with the police in that I had nothing to do with my father's 'death', and my mother willingly told authorities that would listen to go away and look for the real criminals. This is the same woman who, years ago, had prodded me to a point where I had pulled a knife on her. I think she knew that I had seen something so vile, so horrible, that I had clammed up and still refuse to talk about it because of the nature of these events. What the police can't do, is actually go to Kara's Keep to look for their evidence, the tribal council won't let them step foot on there. Its sacred ground and besides, outside government bodies don't have the authority to do any such investigating without their consent. They also told them, in nicer words I would've used, to get lost._

_The council never gave them consent, told these visiting authorizes that there had already been an investigation, and that the person behind the vile events was already taken care of. There had to be a level head amongst the visitors as I was cleared of anything that may have happened. Apparently the authorities were appeased but they couldn't do anything more: nothing was committed on State soil therefore they had no authority to do anything more then ask questions. They couldn't even serve papers to the council, they again told everyone to leave and that I was still welcome on the island regardless._ _Although the case in which my father's so-called 'death' is officially closed, I cannot believe for a second that we won't have any future trouble from those that still believe I had something to do with my father's disappearance. Eventually the authorities were charitable enough to release the contents of my father's Last Will and Testament, of which my mother is the Executor of even after their divorce. _

_My father's Will made no mention of his island home but rather what he had in value in the States, the UK, and France, which was more then what any of us knew of. I knew because of the nature of his work, my father had plenty invested in museums, bank accounts, and other such assets; most of this went to me and my brother. My father, in his wisdom, had left a sizable bank account to my mother should he ever find his way to the other side of death, I guess in retribution for not having to pay a lot in the way of child support all those years. My mother found this acceptable, who wouldn't say no to nearly ten million in pure money for just herself? Besides, she knew that even if I and my brother never worked a single day for the rest of our lives with what our father left us, we'd still have enough left over for another life. She also did not dispute my claim to my father's home and belongings on the main island; she despised the island but wouldn't not get in my way of my second home._

_What my mother or brother don't know, and won't ever, is that what Michael Porter left me will _need_ to last me a lot longer than the next seventy or so years. I have already shown signs of the aging process slowing down, all thanks to the Ring of Two Souls; I already look as though I've barely aged a day since I left for the main island two years ago. Spirits, those who have died and made their choice to follow the Gods like Gaia as their afterlife, have already been training me with the ring and there is temptation involved with using it. Freedan was right; the temptation was great to use the darker abilities of the ring. But I had to use the pull sparingly, or suffer what Crystal had become._

_I found the Spirits to be helpful in guiding me through what they knew as dark abilities that I could use but not corrupt as Crystal or others had. I've come to find out that while there are dark abilities, not all of them are the kind that will turn me into a mutant she-snake; in fact, I have learned that these dark abilities are not as bad as I had previously thought. Still, I do not jump into the powers that the Ring of Two Souls has given me lightly, it still is warm to my touch and it knows I am not one to use it like the last master had done even if I don't know it. I am not completely innocent, the ring knows this but it also has a way to know that I am not about to take a chance like that. Only if there is a dire need to, of which I hope to never use._

_Will I ever use the Ring of Two Souls outside of my ring-given abilities? Who knows, maybe my fate is tied tighter to it than I know it is._

Until Next Time


	2. Chapter 1: Lateness Of Changes

Legends: Diversion

Disclaimer:** I do not own anything that is related, remotely related, or is in the game, **_Illusion of Gaia_**. It is owned by Enix and all related companies. All Original Characters, Stories, and anything that is not in, related to, or remotely related to the game, was solely created for creative and entertainment purposes. Thank you for your time.**

Chapter One – **Lateness Of Changes**

_The important thing is this: to be ready at any moment to sacrifice what you are for what you could become _ - **Charles Dickens**

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

_Beep…_

The alarm clock suddenly went quiet on the cedar nightstand, a groan coming from the mess of blankets, sheets, and pillows. Yawning as she sat up from her slumber, Katherine Porter sat up, stretched, and stared at the clock she smacked to be silent. 7:35 am. For her this was a late rise, a late morning, but this was not like her previous summers where she'd be knee deep in some wild field looking for something or a cavern that hadn't seen a human in four centuries. No, here she was in a modest apartment and not in some camp with familiar faces getting up at the same time at the crack of dawn. Waking up to an alarm clock instead of a fire going, roasting whatever had been caught for breakfast that morning. Here she was waking up to a mattress and bunny slippers.

She didn't like that one bit.

Kat knew didn't have a choice, sliding out of bed and onto the carpet floor as she made her way to the bathroom to do her business. As she looked at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her teeth, she asked herself – as she had every morning for the past year – what she had to have been thinking when she made the decision to stay within the confines of the city she now had to call _home_. It wasn't as though it had been one made by a head of the archeological cooperation her father had been a member of for six years, or some other quasi-famous explorer who 'mourned' the loss of her father along with Kat. No it was done by something entirely bigger than that, something she hadn't even been aware of until she had gone on _that_ expedition with her father.

Two years ago Kat had gone on a trek with her father, Michael Porter, in the same island chain he had lived in. It had been a disaster from the moment the group had stepped on Kara's Keep, as the island was currently called since it was was rumored to have once been the location of Edward Castle. Her father had been acting strange in the days before they had left the main island and their guide, Crystal, had played a huge part in that. In fact, she was the whole reason why the trek had turned out the way it had been, Crystal had been obsessed with finding two other statues: one of a boy, another of a being made of pure essence. The boy's statue wouldn't be found, the supposed occupant had never turned to stone and was living somewhere in the mid-west; his memory had been modified so that he didn't remember who he unless there was a need. The other statue Kat had seen for herself and was intact.

The only reason she knew these things, was because she had put on her father's last birthday present: the Ring of Two Souls. This ring was supposedly a creation of a big battle that had raged above the Earth centuries before, but had fallen to the ground and had bathed in the light of the comet in the process. This had started a chain reaction of her finding out that Mother Nature really _did_ exist, there was a world beyond what she knew of, and that the last master of the ring had abandoned it and wanted it back. That master had been Crystal, who hadn't known that the ring had been in such close proximity to her until she had come face-to-face with Kat and Freedan, another being who claimed to be an immortal knight. It was only then that Crystal turned her statue obsession around and found another obsession: get the Ring of Two Souls back at all costs.

Crystal had claimed to have nearly killed Michael, a fact that Kat had seen for herself when Crystal had lead her and Freedan to where Michael's body had been placed. In the simple act of nearly killing him, Crystal had supposedly placed herself in great risk of losing her own life; she had made a deal with the Underworld, a group of factions who operate in the shadows and the deepest, darkest places one would not think to look for shady people – even with the deeper explanation she had been giving of the Underworld by the Spirits, she still couldn't wrap her mind around it fully. That deal gave her a new form, longer life, but in return she couldn't kill so many people in such a short amount of time; Kat had only learned of how Underworld pacts work two months after she had come back from Kara's Keep. What Crystal's deal was, Kat didn't know except that Crystal would be at the very end of hers should Michael die.

Kat had made a choice then: let her father die so that Crystal could disappear from the face of the world and would not set foot on the surface again. Unfortunately even with the illusion of trying to find a Dark Space entrance that Crystal so wanted to find, and the battle between her and Freedan, Crystal had gotten away with Michael's body and, to Kat's limited knowledge, is keeping him alive by any means necessary so that she could use him as she saw fit. Kat controlled the rage to drive her toothbrush into the mirror at the thought of what Crystal may be doing to her father right now, just because he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. They _all_ had been at the wrong place and there was nothing she could about it at the present time.

Since she had come back from Kara's Keep, Kat had been training with Spirits – those who had died and decided to serve those like Gaia as their afterlife – on how to use the ring. It had been hard at first to know how to command the ring, it was stubborn on what it wanted Kat to do first; she had to first believe that the ring was a sentient creature, a feat easier said than done. While it didn't speak nor had a mind of its own, it still could communicate with its current master and Kat only had to figure out how to 'listen' to it. One thing that she knew from the first time she had put on the ring, was how she could tell the ring still considered Kat its master: the warmth of the band. Even two years later did the ring still call Kat master, especially since she sometimes left it in a dresser drawer to be away from the temptation for a bit; this only told the ring that Kat knew she had to take a break from her new abilities.

During this time she learned more about the afterlife, the Spirits, the Underworld, and history, more than she could have in the few World History classes she took in college. She only took _those_ so she could be satisfied with what the Spirits were telling her. Every professor she had in her classes, even the ones she didn't, knew that she was the daughter of the 'late' Michael Porter and expressed interest in her academic studies; Kat hadn't the heart to tell them she was no longer able to walk in her father's footsteps. Her short time on Kara's Keep had put a stop to that, despite her wanting, _needing_, to be out in the wide, open world and exploring what her father had not been able to show her as a minor and with shared custody between himself and her mother. Now that she had recently turned twenty she should have been able to go where she wanted to go.

Her time on the island was only part of the reason she couldn't go further than the local state park. A year ago there had been reports of heavy Underworld activity across the globe, so much that even Gaia was worried…or so Kat had heard. Since she had met the Earth Spirit that one time she had no direct contact with her despite being told Kat was the last master of the Ring of Two Souls and that Crystal could be at her doorstep at any given moment. She could only go by the messages sent to her through the Spirits; not even Freedan had come knocking at her door, but he had decided to stay penned up on Kara's Keep to keep an eye out in case Crystal returned there. This was the same frame of time that Kat had made her deal with a Spirit: don't go anywhere outside of the current city unless you are commanded to or someone comes to claim you.

Putting down her toothbrush and spitting the contents out of her mouth, she silently berated herself for making that deal although she knew it would keep her safely in one place. _But wouldn't it be like me being back on Kara's Keep?_ She had thought to herself not long after the deal, since she had been told that Kara's Keep was not safe for her to be on. But so unlike the island, if something were to come hunt her down here, to take away the Ring of Two Souls, she still had other ways _out_; on the island she didn't have that luxury. Not even the Dark Space on the island could help her, since that was like a cage: one way out, one way in. But surely there had to be more than just that one Dark Space, right? Not even the Spirits bothered to tell her that much.

By the time Kat had taken her shower, dressed, and grabbed an apple, along with her keys and wallet, as she went on the way out the door, the time on her microwave read 8:38. Even if she drove the quickest way to her work, a mere fifteen to twenty minutes away, she'd _still_ be considered early Her supervisor at the department store she worked at, a far cry from the jungles she was used to, wouldn't be there for another fifteen minutes and rarely acknowledged Kat's clock-in time. Unless Kat was late by more than ten minutes, Ann did not seem to care that her underlings were a few minutes late here and there.

As soon as Kat pulled into the parking lot, the ring grew hot on her finger for several seconds before it went back to a dull warmth. Freezing where she was, the hand with the ring on it by her keys in the ignition, she sat there and stared straight ahead. The ring had only done that once before and it had been nearly a year and a half ago when it had given her that sudden flare-up. It had scared her then and it was scaring her now, even as she turned the car off and leaned back in her seat to think of what this meant. Could it be she was in trouble and she couldn't see the problem? Or was there another reason?

The last time the ring had gotten hot like that, was when there had been two Underworld denizens a half mile from the college she had been attending. Had she not been in the middle of an hour and a half lecture, with a professor who made her parents look like saints, Kat would've excused herself and made a beeline for the nearest Spirit she knew was at the college. As it were now the closet Spirit wasn't even there yet and if there was a person from the Underworld, it wouldn't be like she wasn't defenseless. Kat understood the ring better now, more than when Freedan was first explaining it to her and she had the notion that she could test it against something other than a Spirit.

"Move," Kat told herself, picking up her wallet, keys, and apple as she opened the car door and got out. Looking around for the obvious signs of the Underworld - unexplained shifting of light, extended shadows, mutants from the dark - she slammed the car door and hurried to the store entrance. She hardly took notice that it was past opening time, her head down and eyes diverted elsewhere so that no one else could see the fear. It wasn't until she was nearly at the break room doors did she actually bump into someone.

Looking up as she took several steps back, Kat was surprised to see the person she bumped into was her supervisor, Ann. She appeared to be in her late forties with short blonde hair, green eyes, and a deep brown that creased her impossibly young-looking face. With her arms crossed over her chest, one booted foot tapping the tiled floor, Ann looked like a mother hen about the cluck her way around Kat. If it weren't for the fact that Kat knew Ann for as long as she did, the look she was being given would make her assume she was in serious trouble.

"You're late," Ann said in a neutral tone, her eyes not leaving Kat for a second.

"I'm not like you, I don't arrive fifteen minutes early," Kat snapped at her. "Besides, you told me to come in early as I can today. This is as early as I can."

"You _can_ be motivated, Kat, in other things." Ann's lips tightened as she took a look around. "Why not your job?"

"It's only a few minutes, I'll be up shortly." Taking several steps forwards and around, Kat made an attempt to get past Ann but found herself in front of the woman again. This time Ann had put her arms by her side and was scowling at Kat. "What is it? You've never bothered to be concerned about my time before."

"Because there was never a reason to be before, now there is." Ann stopped when two of the store's employees walked past, shooting concerned looks towards Kat. For all they knew she was getting a stern talking-to about her tardiness. "Where were you this morning?"

"At home, asleep, until two hours ago. I got up, dressed, and came here." Now Kat's voice started to turn irritated. "Why?"

"And you weren't anywhere else besides at home and on your way here?" Ann's intent on knowing where Kat was and what she was doing was getting on her last nerve. Didn't she have enough people breathing down her back as it were?

"Why are you so damned concerned all of a sudden?" She growled through clenched teeth. "It's not like I'm able to go anywhere, you should know better!"

"Don't get all snotty with me young lady! And keep your voice down; you're not the only one who has better hearing around here." Ann looked around before she took Kat by the arm and lead her into the break room, all the while talking. "Look, I get concerned when I get morning reports of sudden spikes of Underworld activity less than a quarter mile from your apartment and you haven't shown up for work yet. And you can't do anything because of that damned ring of yours."

Kat, too, looked around the empty break room, partially glad that no one was there to listen in on her conversation. It had been a shock enough to have a sudden conversation about the Ring of Two Souls with her supervisor; it would be another to have to explain what they were talking about to someone else. From her experience with Spirits, some of the human race was not ready to fully understand concepts of certain parts of history and what went on around them. That was why Shadow had been put back into his statue first, or so Freedan had told her.

"What is this about my ring?" Kat asked once she was lead safely through another door and into the locker room just off the break room. This room had not been empty when they had entered, Ann shooing the others out before any complaints were raised. "I've been training with it for the last _two years_ and still I can barely go out of my back yard!"

"Calm yourself." Something flickered in Ann's eyes, fear and a sudden flash of pain, but that disappeared as quickly as it had come. Kat shut her eyes rather quickly, holding them shut for a moment then opened them again. "I'm just saying that because of your ring, you never know what may happen, and the reports have only told me of the spike in activity, nothing more. Besides, there are others that are more willing to go after you then both the Spirits and Underworld care to have loose."

"Crystal," she breathed, feeling as though she could burst out of her skin in anticipation to face _that_ one again but there was also an underlying effect of fear. Fear of what she had done to her father, fear what she would do to Kat if the two should meet again, fear of what would happen if Kat would actually _use_ the ring outside of training – several possibilities swarmed through her mind. "So what faction are they? Where are they? Can they give information about my …?

"Slow down, Kat!" Ann held her hands up to divert any more questions; if this had been any other situation she would have laughed. "Yes there are Underworld-interested parties about but that's all the information I've been given. As soon as I get more I'll let you know although you'll probably find out before I do." She gave Kat a slight push towards her locker. "Now go put your stuff away, clock in, and meet me upstairs."

Patting Kat on the arm, Ann walked past her without another word as she left the locker room the same way they had entered. Standing there in a mild daze Kat wondered if she walked out of work that very moment how long it would take for a Spirit or two to locate her and bring her back into her workplace. She had half a mind to walk out at that moment, find anyone else besides Ann with a shred of knowledge about the Underworld and Spirits, and get any information she could about her father. It was bad enough she _knew_ what he could be going through, it was worse that she couldn't do a damned thing about it.

No matter what she could do, no matter how much knowledge she possessed, Kat found herself putting her belongings in her locker and getting her badge from within. Forcing herself to go to work took will power, even as her hands shook and her legs wanted to sprint out of there instead of taking her to the elevator to the second floor. Kat was thankful that there was someone else in the elevator as well and hadn't taken the escalator up to the second floor where jewelry, cosmetics, and other clothing were sold. Had she been alone in the elevator she would have sat in the corner and cried, thinking it would have been better if Ann hadn't said a word about the Underworld activity to her today. She only took this job so she could 'afford' to live a few years without using more of her inheritance, she hardly needed anything sold in the store – how she would sell anything today would be a miracle.

As soon as Kat got out of the elevator she had the odd sense to go back in and not come out; the air had gone cold on the second floor. Glancing around she forced her body forwards, her eyes darting past the racks of children's clothing that soon gave way to rows of shoes, then around to the escalator and purses. Her area – the jewelry – sat near the wide doors that lead into the mall, of which already saw groups of people walking by and a few taking the stairs up and down between levels. If her father could see her dressed in nice shoes, pants, and shirt, while working in a place like this, he would have laughed at her. Kat had laughed at herself for taking the job; she was used to the forest of trees, not of clothing racks.

What ultimately made her stop at the long watch case that wrapped around a wall, with room behind it to walk behind and an entrance to Ann's office, was not the chill but rather a young man leaning over one section with his hands in his pockets of his blue jeans. He wore a black jacket over his blue shirt, blue sneakers, and had his shoulder-length red hair tied back. It only took a moment for him to realize he wasn't alone when he straightened up and turned partially towards her, his handsome face unreadable and light grey eyes cold and distant. He was a good foot or so taller than Kat was yet seemed much younger of about four to five years by her rough estimate; the smile he gave her did not reach his eyes. He did not offer much other than that, as they stared at each for a moment before Kat spoke up.

"Can I help you?" She asked him as she took several steps forwards. He didn't seem to be looking for anything particular and Ann was in her office, no less doing something in there like paperwork if she was there at all – the light was on and the door open. It was not like it took a long time to get up to the second floor and this man had to have been there before either one of them came upstairs.

"No, Ann is helping me already, thank you," he said with a slight nod as his smile faded. Kat returned the nod and was about to head into the office when Ann came out of it, having heard the voices and held a piece of paper and a pen in one hand.

"There you are, was wondering when you'd be up. Stay there for a moment," she said to Kat before turning to the young man. "Here it is, you'll need to sign this. I know it's a crude method but it's still easier."

"Shouldn't we be talking and doing this more privately?" He glanced over to Kat, who looked over at Ann. If she was in the process of hiring someone else to cover the times when Kat was in her classes, the last thing Ann needed was for her to be present during that process. Kat started to back up but Ann waved her to stay where she was.

"You're right." She turned to Kat with a slight smile. "As soon as Sage signs the paper the two of you need to have a little chat. He's got a lot of things to tell you."

"I don't know what you've been telling her but, um, there should be as few persons to know then there are already. Less to be involved so whatever you've been telling her needs to stop." Sage took his hands out of his pockets and folded them in front of him. If she didn't know who this Sage was, Kat would've laughed at the sheer absurdity of what he had just said – he suddenly reminded her of a similar conversation she had with a certain knight several years prior.

"Funny, I recall someone I know saying something similar." Kat looked to Ann, not once trying to hide her wide smile. If Sage was who she thought he was, and Ann wasn't telling her to run for the hills, then maybe he hadn't breeched the layers of protection the Spirits had put around the store. "What's that, a Spirit permission slip? Is he going on a field trip or something?"

Ann laughed at the questions while Sage glared at her with narrowed eyes. "You could say that, I think Mother Nature has a sense of humor sometimes. It's something that _both_ of you need to look at."

"I didn't come all the way here to take on a Living Spirit apprentice. I came here for something else," Sage snapped, snatching the paper out of Ann's hands as he looked down at the paper and began to read it.

"And _here_ is your something else," Ann said after she gave him several minutes to read and re-read the paper. When he looked up finally, his eyes were wide as he looked at Ann then to Kat and back again several times as he tried to process something that only the two of them seemed to understand. Kat, too, was confused: what did they mean by 'something else'? "The food court is down on the first floor of the mall, there's a small eating area down there that's across from the sub shop. The owner of said shop can make sure the two of you have some privacy."

"Wait, no one told me that there was a _person_ attached to the ring. I thought I was sent here to take the ring back and give information to the person who was helping." Sage looked over at Kat. "Since when?"

Kat felt the pressure of his gaze bare onto her, what he had just told her added twenty pounds to her stomach. The world around her suddenly felt much colder, everything seemed to take on several shades of darkness; Ann reached out for her to hold her up and keep her upright. Sage looked sicker than she felt, her right hand going to her forehead; her skin felt clammy and hot, what was happening to her? The ring had not lost its warmth the slightest, Ann tried to get her to go into the office but Kat shrugged her off as she leaned against the counter and looked at Sage.

"Who the hell are _you_?" Her eyes found where Ann was standing, a foot away from Kat. "What's going on? What does he mean that he was taking the ring? It's still warm."

"That was one tidbit the reports hadn't told me, then again I hadn't been aware things changed until he showed up fifteen minutes ago." Ann gave Sage a passing look. "And you should've known better."

"Known better about what? That the Ring of Two Souls still had a master? I wasn't aware about _that_ until just now." Sage waved the paper, glaring between Ann and Kat. "I'll talk to her on one condition: she leaves the ring here. Otherwise I'll send for someone else."

"No, the ring stays on me," she said firmly with more strength then she had in her body at the moment. "It does not leave my body, period. If you have a problem with that, go find a Dark Space to complain to Gaia."

"In your pocket then, I don't want to see it." Sage set the paper on the counter and pushed it away from him. "Half hour, then we'll talk."

With that Sage turned around, put his arms to his sides, and walked out the door, not even looking behind at the two women he left standing there. Ann was frowning at his retreating form while Kat just stared after him, confused and still wobbly; she had not a reaction like before and did not want that to repeat again. Her sight still had the shades of dark around it but it had gone from near darkness to somewhere around the grey spectrum. Sighing, Ann picked the paper up and faced Kat, who was at least now able to stand up without having to lean on the counter for support.

"He's a Spirit, Kat, but don't get him started on the _how_." For a moment Ann looked fearful, then that passed and she shook her head. "Poor thing. At least I'm thankful I can't remember certain things from before."

Kat held herself up on the counter, her hands had finally stopped shaking and her legs were somewhat strong again. She didn't feel as though she was about to pass out or fall face-first onto the floor, the warmth of the store returning to her. While Ann didn't seem affected by Sage's appearance or even the looks he had been giving her, Kat was shaken by it had and more questions than answers. Ann saw this and patted her on the arm, giving her a slight smile.

"What's going on?" Kat asked quietly. "Why is he here?"

"Things change and Sage is the best to tell you." Ann casually glanced around. "Best go clock out for the day, you are already not fit for work. You can come back if there's any need for clarification. Now shoo!"

Kat grumbled something under her breath then pushed herself off of the counter. It took only a few minutes to make sure her legs wouldn't go out on her before she started for the elevator, stopping briefly to turn around to say something to Ann. With the dark glare she was given, along with the shooing motion to tell her to get going, Kat turned back around and continued on. What she would find when she met up with Sage she didn't know but from what she had gathered with her first short interaction so far, she knew he didn't like her.

And it seemed to boil down to the ring she wore.

Until Next Time


	3. Chapter 2: Sage

Legends: Diversion

Disclaimer: **I do not own anything that is related, remotely related, or is in the game, **_Illusion of Gaia_**. It is owned by Enix and all related companies. All Original Characters, Stories, and anything that is not in, related to, or remotely related to the game, was solely created for creative and entertainment purposes. Thank you for your time.**

Chapter Two – **Sage**

_We have a hunger of the mind which asks for knowledge of all around us, and the more we gain, the more is our desire;_

_the more we see, the more we are capable of seeing_ – **Maria Mitchell**

By the time Kat had gotten to the food court, almost an hour had passed since her short encounter with Sage. As she had been told by Ann, she had clocked out for the day and punched in the code for "leaving early – sick"; she wasn't really sick, just following the advice of her supervisor. The clammy feeling she had earlier was gone, in its place was a determination to find out why Sage was there and why he didn't know that the Ring of Two Souls still had a master. As far as Kat was aware, from what Gaia had told her two years prior, she was to be the last one and that is if she remembered correctly. She hoped that it was just like he said: he didn't know.

Like she had been told to do Kat put the ring out of sight; it now rested in a pocket within her purse and she held that purse ever so tightly in front of her. Looking around nervously, she caught sight of the sub shop first and the owner of it behind the counter. He was standing to the side, trying to look as though he was busy; he glanced up when Kat came through, stopped, and turned to the small enclosure where few people sat to eat. There were tables in the other food areas to eat in so not many bothered to take their food into this space. There Sage sat at a booth, legs across the long seat, arms crossed over his chest, and his eyes staring directly at Kat. When she nodded to the sub owner, who nodded in return, she stepped into the space and felt a sudden chill go through her. This time it wasn't because of Sage but of something else entirely; what the Spirit behind the sub counter could do to make sure her and Sage were the only ones there, she didn't know and he wouldn't explain it even if she asked.

"It took you long enough; I thought I told you a half hour." Sage watched her sit down on the bench in front of him before he swung his legs over the side and leaned on the table between them with his arms crossed on the table.

"You did, I just needed a bit of extra time to come down here," she answered sharply. That wasn't a total lie; she could have come down ten minutes sooner if she hadn't been afraid of this meeting. She was still afraid of it, unsure of who or what Sage really was. "Besides, how do I know you aren't part of the Underworld?"

"Do you really think that I could get _this_ close to you without a legion of Spirits tearing me apart before I said one word?" Sage laughed at her. "You have so many of us looking after you that I'm surprised you don't wake up with twenty breathing down your nightshirt. It took enough talk as it were to let you take this job."

"Am I supposed to be appreciative that the Spirits let me do anything?" Kat asked coldly, taking the chance to put her purse on the bench next to her. "Or are you here just to remind me that I can barely go out my backdoor?"

"I'm not here to remind you of anything, I'm just here to make sure that the ring doesn't fall into the hands of the Underworld again." Sage leaned back in his seat, throwing an arm over the back of the bench to appear more comfortable. "Had I been told you were the current master of the Ring of Two Souls, and not just someone who was holding onto it, I would've handed the task to someone else. In fact I wasn't even aware that you were the one Ann was talking about until an hour ago. I was just told to get the ring back to the last place it was used, I should've connected things sooner."

Kat smiled. "And here I thought I wasn't told anything. I thought all of the Spirits knew I was the ring's current master, I guess that assumption was wrong."

"Not every Spirit is aware of what's going on in the mortal world, there are some of us that just rather not think about what once was or even bother with the mortal world." Sage tried to return that smile but it did not reach his eyes; Kat remembered Ann's warning not to ask him about what made him a Spirit. "I know better now, I just do what I'm told and finish the task before moving on. Now that I can't back out now we'll move on as to fill you in as to what is really going on out there."

"What I really want to know is what's going on with Crystal, where she is, what's she doing with my father, and how to get rid of her." Kat folded her hands on the table and stared long and hard at Sage's reaction. If she thought he was going to get up and walk away with such a demand she was mistaken.

Instead he blinked several times, surprise clearly evident on his face as he didn't seem to have expected such a demand so soon, or as a detailed one as Kat had laid out. It wasn't clear as to what this Spirit knew outside of what he was supposedly told, which didn't seem much to her, but his scowl a second later showed he at least understood her. He didn't ask who Crystal was, who was her father, and what she meant by her choice of words; she hoped she wouldn't need to go into much detail about what had happened on Kara's Keep. But she still thought it to be a reasonable request.

"Pretty demanding, aren't you?" Sage said a moment later. "We'll get to that in time, I'm sure you're wondering what else the Underworld has been up to."

"Not really, I just want Crystal gone so that my father can rest in peace," she lied. In truth while that may be what she wanted, she also needed to know more about what was going on in the rest of the world. Being confined to a small area didn't exactly warrant a whole lot of information to her.

"You're such a damn liar, you know it as well as I do that you have more than a passing interest in what's going on elsewhere as well," he pointed out with a smirk. "Oh I'm sure you're more interested in _that_, but in reality that's the least worry we have."

"Oh really?" Kat raised an eyebrow. "Considering that she knows who I am, knows what I have, was the last master of the Ring of Two Souls, _and_ has my father, I think that makes her one of the biggest problems there is."

"Let me remind you that whatever this Crystal is doing pales in comparison to what the Underworld is doing. Yes some of what is going on in the Underworld itself may just be because of _her_; she isn't the main concern right now." Sage shifted in his seat. Kat could tell that while what he said was true, there may be more to what role Crystal had in this then what he was saying. "Whatever actions are against her will hinder whatever faction she currently is or is not serving, but the Underworld as a whole is in a little bit of a mess. I'm sure that you're aware that there isn't one set group or person that controls the Underworld, right?"

"Right," Kat said, thinking back to what the other Spirits had told her in limited detail. "It's made up of different factions."

"Exactly. I'm sure that you realize that the Underworld has always had its most powerful factions at the top for as long as the Spirits have been around if not longer," he said. "Whoever is on the top has the ability to do a lot more than those who are weaker. But that has all changed the moment you put that ring on."

Kat blinked in surprise. "Why? I know it's a powerful relic, and I'm not exactly the first one to have put it on."

"Think about it for a moment. You are a mortal with a powerful item, while not exactly THE most powerful it still is quite impressive. There are multiple sides wanting to have it, to use it for their own gain, and most mortals don't even know what it is until they see it. Now being a mortal that can control a decent chunk of power not really attributed to mortals you become a target for less desirable sides. This has been the case for centuries with relics of power." Sage flexed his fingers then leaned on the table again. He suddenly looked so tired, as though he hadn't slept for weeks; had Kat not known that certain Spirits didn't require much sleep, she would've told him to go back to bed. "Which is why the Spirits have made sure that you are as protected as possible, hence the restrictions placed on you. The last thing that is needed is to have you, the ring, or both on the side we're trying to keep you from. Are you following me so far?"

She nodded her understanding. "Why hasn't it been done before? I mean, I understand the concept but again I'll state that I am far from the first person to use the damned ring."

"Who says it hadn't been? Spirits have kept tabs on the ring, sure, maybe even allowed the Underworld to have it for a time just like they had with other relics. The threat of the Underworld in a mass revolt hadn't been a thought even up to five years ago; especially in the darkness that is the Underworld. Oh there were petty squabbles here and there but nothing that hasn't happened before." He took this moment to look outside the confines of the eating area they were in to make sure that whatever placement there was around them was still holding up before returning to look at Kat. Whoever wanted to come into the confines of this area suddenly backed up and went elsewhere to eat, their eyes blank as they shuffled away. "The difference between then and now is what is going on in the Underworld and why it's so damn important to keep you safe. Sure the Underworld knew of its existence, a faction probably had it for a time, but it was one of the things they never really went after. But the Underworld has spies, they know things and they can find out what's going on."

"But you just said…" Kat started before Sage held up a hand to stop her from speaking.

"What I said was that anyone who is in the Underworld can't get near _you_, I said nothing about anyone else. Just like the Spirits have spies so does the Underworld and they can get under a Spirit's protection just as easily as a Spirit's spy can." That was an uneasy thought, Kat glancing around what she could see of the food court. Any one person out there could be able to listen in on their conversation, they may not be able to get near her but even the walls have ears. "Oh don't look so alarmed about it, it's been going on long before I even became a Spirit and it's normal in the relationship between us and them. But I will say that the majority of the Underworld could care less about the Ring of Two Souls, it's the more insane factions that have been raising a stink about its impending destruction."

He let Kat have a few minutes to let his words sink in, her face going from confusion to horror as she realized that whatever Gaia had told her now could very well be common knowledge in the dredges of the Underworld. She was mildly surprised that Sage knew what Gaia had planned, she had no idea that even the deepest, darkest places knew of it and even then she couldn't imagine who else knew. It made her feel sick to her stomach to know that someone within the Spirits had either said the wrong thing to the wrong person, or the conversation they had been bugged while she was in the confines of the Dark Space. It had been bad enough that Gaia couldn't sense the ring's presence for some time, now Sage was telling her that not even a Dark Space was safe from outside ears.

"That was said in the confines of a Dark Space, there is no way that kind of information could have leaked out of there," she said finally, holding her purse closer to her. "That or a Spirit had been leaking information."

"Dark Spaces, while controlled by Gaia, aren't exactly the safest place to hold a conversation about the ring. It would have been better to have been shouting from the treetops but what She does isn't always clear to us Spirits." Sage sighed. "What I'm telling you, what was said where or who knows what aside, is that by figuring out that you are to be the last master of that ring, you have suddenly shot up to the top on numerous Underworld factions 'Most Wanted' lists. By capturing you, you have become a target for these factions and are viewed as a one-way ticket to a higher ranking."

"But if most of the Underworld doesn't care about the ring, why is it important to have me guarded all the time?" She asked. "Even if there are insane factions, I seriously doubt even the Underworld as a whole is stupid enough to let them do whatever they please."

"It's the smaller, more insane factions that are trying to get to you. While the Underworld has its roots in discord, they do have standards. That much I agree with." Sage grinned at that, Kat shaking her head; she heard those words once before a few years prior. "The Underworld is currently trying to get rid of those deemed too insane to survive, thus a revolt but it's not going so well. It's happened before, it will happen again, but this time the stakes are a bit higher. You are, unfortunately, caught in the middle of it all and there's a lot more at stake than a single relic. Gaia had believed that you would have at least a few decades to test out the ring, maybe a century or two, before it was decided to destroy the ring. She wants it done and soon."

"She wants to destroy the ring _now_?" She leaned back in her seat, startled. "What couldn't She have done it when I was on the island?"

"Because although it had been considered before, it had not been finalized and she had hoped that you could have some experience with it before it was destroyed completely. That is one of the major differences, the factions understand that this is a final decision and cannot be undone." Sage's voice had become strained and his eyes were looking away from Kat more often now. He was keeping his eyes open for anything that may just jump out at them but he did not let Kat worry of it, not yet. "That is why you have been kept guarded, why you didn't have the space as the others had before. Because even though the majority of the Underworld really doesn't give much of a damn, if one of these factions currently in revolt gets the ring it will cause a lot of discord, a lot of destruction, and a lot of needless headaches on both sides. Because even though the Underworld has generally been kept busy with trying to get this under control the Spirits are trying to keep you as guarded as possible and away from whatever may try to get you."

"And why I haven't seen anyone from the Underworld at my doorstep." She knew she was being closely watched because she was the master of the ring but she had no idea until that moment the whole reason behind the _why_. Suddenly it made more sense to her of Sage's belief that Crystal was the least of her worries then it had been. It still was on her mind, it would be for a long time, but she understood a lot more than she had when she woke up that morning.

"Exactly that. By defying the one person that could easily destroy the entire world as we know it, the Underworld could very much find itself in a worse position then it is currently." Sage smirked. "And the last thing the Underworld wants is to have its only roaming grounds destroyed."

"So what happens now?" Kat asked. "How does something like the Ring of Two Souls get destroyed?"

Sage remained quiet for a few minutes, his eyes closing during that time. He hardly looked like the person who had been standing at the watch counter nearly two hours before, Kat saw his body sagging and his breathing was more shallow. At first she thought he was going to pass out but as Sage opened his eyes and looked at her, his grey eyes were focused and determined, a sort of fiery look to them had appeared. It was startling that his body looked so worn down and tired but his eyes seemed to come alive that Kat had to fight down the urge to get up and walk away. Just the look that came onto his face a few seconds later made him seem more deadly than he appeared to be; Kat should have known better to get comfortable where she was.

Looking over to the sub shop owner, Kat found that he although he was still standing at the counter his whole body was turned away from them. His back was to where she and Sage were sitting, he wasn't even bothering to make sure that Kat was already. _So much for my Spirit defense_, she thought to herself as she turned back to Sage while putting a hand down into her purse. His eyes and face had turned back to normal but he still had that look of a tiger ready to pounce; she made sure to keep her fingers where they were in case she needed to take the ring out at a second's notice. If Sage decided to suddenly jump the table and lunge after her, she hoped she had enough time to get it out before he did anything.

"Things like the ring aren't easily destroyed, it's often better to hide them away or make sure that if old relics are used they are kept in check," Sage said finally, his voice cracking. "However once an item is deemed ti to be destroyed, there is a process that must take place."

"And what exactly is this process?" Kat asked carefully. Although Sage did not seem to want to lunge over the table, his eyes had gone down to her purse where the ring was held. That apparently kept him from doing anything of the sort. "How complicated is it?"

"The process that has to happen isn't the challenge," he said slowly and just as carefully as Kat had asked her questions. "It's getting the relic and the person who last used it back to where it was introduced that is going to be the problem. Usually by the time someone decides a relic needs to be destroyed, whoever the last person was to use it has already died. You're going to need to back to the place where you put the ring on, Kat, since apparently you're the last known person to have the ring in their possession."

Kat opened and closed her mouth several times in a vain attempt to from words in response to what Sage had just told her. It wasn't hard to understand the implication of what he had just said, it was the sheer absurdity of it that made her brain stop working rationally for a moment and plunge into what would happen if she ever stepped foot back in there. She had been told the last place she needed to be was the same place she vowed not to return to, regardless of what the tribal council had allowed her to do. Besides, hadn't Freedan told her it wasn't safe for her to be there? And now Sage told her it was the only place where the ring could be destroyed.

"I have to go back to Kara's Keep?" She asked softly, asking the question just to get a confirmation. Sage's nod in answer was all that she needed. "I thought I wasn't, I mean I can't, I-"

"The destruction process will start soon if it hasn't already begun, it has to be completed within a year of it starting," he said. "I had thought that because the last master of the ring wasn't to be found that it would be impossible to destroy it, now I understand the decision behind it and should've seen the connections sooner. You most likely have eleven to twelve months to get back to this place you call Kara's Keep in order to get the destruction process over and done with."

"What if I don't? What if I refuse to go back?" Kat asked as Sage stood up. His eyes flickered over her for a moment, one side of his mouth curving up in a half smile as he slightly cocked his head to the side.

"You don't want to find out, do you?" He asked, drumming his fingers on the table before nodding to her as a goodbye. He didn't stay long enough to hear any more protests, questions, or anything else that Kat might have to say, walking away before Kat could even open her mouth. The eating area around Kat suddenly felt even smaller than it actually was, her eyes staring in the direction Sage was walking in as she tried to comprehend what she had just been told.

It was only after ten minutes of sitting there, staring out into space and into nothing, did Kat blink and look around; there were people coming into the area, like whatever had been surrounding it had just vanished. Standing up she pulled her purse over her shoulder and looked in the direction of the sub shop, the man that had been standing behind it now was gone. If he was a Spirit, or just someone who was attuned to a higher Dark Essence, it was apparent that his job for the time being was done. Kat felt the urge to go up to him, to demand to know what was going on, but that man was the last person she could go to for answers. Sage had already walked off, Freedan was still holed up on Kara's Keep, and the last person the planet Kat wanted to talk to was Gaia.

In the end Kat decided that the best course of action was to find Ann and get her to talk.

Until Next Time


	4. Chapter 3: Frustrations

Legends: Diversion

Disclaimer: **I do not own anything that is related, remotely related, or is in the game, **_Illusion of Gaia_**. It is owned by Enix and all related companies. All Original Characters, Stories, and anything that is not in, related to, or remotely related to the game, was solely created for creative and entertainment purposes. Thank you for your time.**

Chapter Three – **Frustrations**

_No matter how far a person can go the horizon is still way beyond_ – **Zora Neale Hurston**

It wasn't until well after one o'clock in the afternoon did Ann come into the break room for her lunch, despite the repeated calls to her cell phone, pages to come downstairs, and numerous threats by Kat. She found the younger woman pacing in front of the vending machine, muttering to herself and looking rather put off by her morning encounter. Ann couldn't blame her considering she, herself, had been given a rather condensed version of what Sage may have told Kat and that had unnerved her quite a bit. A few of suppressed memories Ann had – and she knew she had them – had broken through whatever block the Spirits had put on her mind not long after Kat had left to meet up with Sage. Had she been by herself and not out where roaming eyes could see her, she would have broken down and cried; that was the effect Sage had on her for some reason. She couldn't imagine what number he had done on Kat.

Kat stopped her pacing and turned around as soon as Ann made her presence known by ordering anyone that wasn't herself, Kat, or a known Spirit to leave. There were a few grumblings to be had but as soon as the two were alone Kat sat down at one of the long tables in the break room and leaned on the table, watching Ann do the same a moment later. Kat didn't say anything at first, watching Ann intently with a focused look; she was determined to find some reasoning not to go back to Kara's Keep if she could help it. If Ann had a reason to keep her away, any reason at all, then she would stay away; if not, would Kat break down and go back? What would be the consequences for defying an order like this?

Kat had spent the last few hours in the break room and kept to herself when she was not trying to get Ann to come down there. Every word she wanted to say to this woman now was out of her mind, every question she had died in her throat; all she wanted to ask was 'why?' but even that didn't come out. Ann waited patiently for Kat to say something and now was becoming annoyed that she was spending the first part of her lunch hour waiting for even a single word to come out of the person in front of her. Kat should have been packing and getting ready for whatever lay ahead of her, not trying to force the words she wanted to say and looking as though she had suddenly become a mute.

"So Sage talked to you, didn't he?" Ann asked, in hopes that maybe if she talked first then Kat would try to speak properly as well.

"He did," Kat said a second later, her voice returned although dry and cracked. "He told me I'd have to go back to Kara's Keep to destroy the ring."

"Ah, so he did manage to get around to telling you that." Ann couldn't say if she was pleased about that or not; by the look on her face Kat sure wasn't. "You do, relics like that are very particular."

"So why do I _have_ to be there for the ring to be destroyed?" She demanded. "Wouldn't it just be easier to give the ring to a Spirit and let them do it?"

Ann sighed, rubbing a hand over her face. "It's not that simple, it never is. Whoever was last tied to it has to _willingly_ let it go in order for a relic to be destroyed. I'm sure he also told you that it's better to keep relics hidden since it's often unknown who used it last."

"Sage said he didn't know anyone was tied to the ring," she said. "Why send someone who didn't know, if the ring is to be destroyed and it's a proven fact that the last person who used it has to be there?"

Kat had put the ring back on as soon as she had gotten into the store, she was thankful it was still warm to her skin. She had been afraid that because of her raising temper that it would sense she had darker thoughts and begin to pull away. It still had that warmth to it but for how long? Kat only knew what she was thinking at that moment, it wasn't a pleasant thought to begin with and she was scared at how much she had begun to realize she, too, was out of the loop like Sage was. How much more was she not being told in order to keep her in the dark? How many questions could've been answered by now if Spirits were being truthful?

Ann remained quiet for a time, her eyes focused on something on the wall behind Kat for a moment before looking at Kat squarely in the face. Her instructions had been to keep an eye on her, tell her of certain things but never divulge too much information at one time. There were Spirits that were told of things on a need-to-know basis, the majority of them spies; the less they knew the better off things were. That had been the explanation given to Ann several years ago when the two were first introduced, even then Ann had to refrain telling Kat everything that she knew. Ann knew Kat wasn't stupid, eventually she would have to be told things and be given a broader range of freedom then what she was currently given. That was one thing Ann hated and still resented that the girl in front of her was given too short of a leash to do anything.

"Sometimes it's best to keep information like this away from certain Spirits, Sage being one of them. Between you and me I think it was unwise to have sent him," Ann said carefully, taking note of the dark look on Kat's face. As soon as she said that Ann knew that had been the wrong thing to say. Kat's eyes flared up and a low growl came from deep within her throat; even with her trying to calm herself Kat could not keep her frustration from showing any longer.

"I am so sick and tired of every damn Spirit walking on eggshells around me, I'm beginning to understand why Crystal took the path she did and why Sage was so annoyed about being kept in the dark." Kat put her hands on the table; she had only a sliver of self-control left not to flip the thing over. "Why don't you start by telling me the truth? Or don't you think I'd be able to handle it?"

"It's not that _I_ don't believe you can handle it, it's just that the less you know the better off you'd be," Ann said just as carefully as she had before. "There are things that certain factions within the Underworld would kill to get."

"So you can't tell me in case someone in the Underworld decides to kidnap me?" Kat, for some reason, found this amusing. Here she was, the current master of the Ring of Two Souls, and the Spirits were worried about what she did or did not know. She would've been more concerned about the _ring_ then what she did or did not know. "I think that is one of the last things you'd be worried about considering I thought that the Underworld used spies to get their information."

"It's one of the biggest things we should be worried about, right next to making sure relics don't get into the Underworld's hands again," Ann snapped back at her. "There are certain secrets that not every Spirit knows and we can't afford Underworld spies to get. Even if spies were used it's not a grand idea to let everyone know everything."

"I'm not asking for all the secrets Spirits know, I just think I deserve to know more then what you're telling me." That was all she wanted, to know what was going on in regards to things pertaining to her. She didn't even know what Crystal was doing or where her father was at! "Besides it doesn't seem like the Underworld really cares at this point how many Spirits are around me so long as the more insane factions can get the ring."

"And any other information they may get on how the Spirit network works." Ann stood up, her eyes narrowed. Kat had a feeling that using 'we can't tell you anything just in case you get kidnapped' as an excuse was just that: an _excuse_. That, or she wasn't allowed to say anything more. "You were given instructions, you best be getting yourself ready to go back because it needs to be done."

"What exactly are the consequences if I decide not to go back?" Kat as quietly as Ann began to walk away but stopped as soon as the question went out of her mouth; her whole body went stiff at the question. "Because from my perspective none of you seem to be giving me a good reason to return to Kara's Keep at this point. What will happen if a relic is not destroyed when the order is given?"

Kat felt a sudden calm as soon as she was finished speaking, as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She knew that her need of knowledge would get her in trouble one day, or at least worse trouble then she already was in, and the look of horror on Ann's face as she turned around to look at Kat again was well worth all the worry she had felt up to this point. Ann's answer would help Kat decide on if she would return back to Kara's Keep, if she would defy Gaia's order to have the ring destroyed, and if the ring still considered Kat its master. So far the ring still felt warm to her touch, that was one less worry, but Ann's reaction would be another. Kat did not like to be pushed into a corner like this; this would be the closest she would lash out if she had the choice to. In all honesty she did not want to repeat the last instance she had been backed into a corner.

"Katherine Porter, you are _not_ to defy that order!" Ann said sharply, her mouth twisting into a deep frown. "Do you _realize_ how much could go wrong if you do deify it?"

Kat crossed her arms over her chest and met Ann's gaze head-on. "That's exactly my point: _I don't know_. I have no idea what is going on outside of what little you've told me, what little contact, if any, I've had with Gaia, and whatever Sage just told me this morning. Why don't you, for once, tell me more than 'it's just an Underworld patrol, everything's fine' and give me something else to go on?"

Ann didn't move or speak for several minutes, her wide eyes staring at Kat before she took in a deep breath and sat back down in front of Kat. While she couldn't go into full detail everything Kat wanted to know, she could at least grant her this bit of information; it was not like she would divulge all the secrets known to the Spirits. It was just like Kat said: she didn't need to know all the secrets of the Spirit world, she just needed to know more than she was being told. The shock of her directness was wearing off and still she struggled to put the words she wanted to say carefully to tell Kat _something_ but nothing as a whole. The glare she was given for the amount of time it was taking to say anything got on her last nerve as well; it was as though Kat was acting as a spoiled child not getting her way.

"What you need to understand, Kat, is that there are certain factions within the Underworld that would love to get their hands on that ring of yours right now, or any relic for that matter. I'm sure Sage told you that those factions would love to see what would happen if they defied an order to destroy a relic. There are also certain Spirits who would love just to sit back to watch that happen, just because they want to see the same thing." Ann gave a nervous, hollow laugh. "No order like that can be ignored; it can cause a lot of damage to the mortal world as we know it. Think of the worst possible outcome and triple that. The less damage that needs to be done, the better off everything will be."

"How much and what kind of damage?" Kat asked, tapping a finger on her arm. "That's really all I need to know is what kind of damage will happen should an order to destroy a relic be ignored."

"The Underworld will take it as a sign that certain orders can be defied and all hell will be let loose. Any treaties that were made, any restraints that the Underworld may have made with the Spirits, any standards that are in place, those all will be like they never happened." Ann's voiced cracked at these words. "The more insane factions will be set loose first to do the most damage: cities will be destroyed, families will be torn apart, and mortals would lose a lot more than just their lives. The world would catch on fire before the Spirits could even make the first move to counter the effects of the waves of the Underworld that has been let loose.

"After the more insane factions have had their way, the more reserved ones will wait to strike and even they won't be as kind as their brethren. The factions will keep coming, one by one, until there is nothing left. On and on it will go until the Underworld has gone against everything that has taken decades, if not centuries, to put together. The world world may just be destroyed because you defied Gaia like this and if we're lucky the Underworld just might not get the chance to have a hand in it. The ring may just do the Underworld's job for them. If the Underworld gets a relic before it's supposed to be destroyed, well it's best not to think about _that_."

Ann sat back in her chair, quietly assessing Kat's reaction to her explanation. The younger woman opened her mouth to say something several times but closed it right back; her inner workings were thinking of what she had just been told. If she should not go back, not let the ring be destroyed, it could mean the end of the world as she, and everyone else on it, knew it as. Diverting such consequences meant having to just deal with having to go back to Kara's Keep, get the ring destroyed, and then go about her life as she had before.

Kat took in several deep breaths as though she was trying to calm herself; in reality she was trying to keep herself from laughing. Not at what Ann was talking about but the absurdness of it all. Only a few years ago was she told to stay away from that island to protect not only her but the ring as well. All to keep the ring from getting into the wrong hands of the wrong sort of people. Now she had been told that in order to keep the world from being torn apart, she would have to go back to the one place she had been told not to be at. It wouldn't be safe for her or the ring.

But how many times had Gaia been defied since the creation of the Earth? Kat wondered how many Spirits, how many other mortals who knew She existed, had defied Gaia's orders before. And how many times had disaster been diverted because nothing ever came about the defied order. Kat herself had defied many orders from those in a higher position and very little came from it; but those times she had not carried something like she had on her finger. And the superior that might be defied was Mother Nature herself.

"I'm sure that Gaia has been defied before, why should this be any different?" Kat asked a few minutes later, after trying to think of the best way to ask such a question. Ann smiled as she ran a hand through her hair.

"She has been, but once She says a relic is to be destroyed it _has_ to be done. Otherwise the ring may not work anymore and won't respond to your commands, thus rendering it a piece of junk, or whatever power it has contained will expand and consume whatever it is in its path," Ann explained. "It could go supernova on you, whoever is around you, and won't stop until its power is completely gone. By then there not might be an Earth left and this is the best case scenario and is without Underworld influence. Are you satisfied at the answers you've been given?"

"Not entirely, no, and I'd hate to think of what would happen if the worst case should come to pass." Kat was truthful in saying that she really didn't want to think of what would happen should she not go back. Despite of everything she just had been told, despite the Underworld nipping beyond the borders of the Spirit's protection, she was still uncertain as to what she really wanted to do. But now what consequences would come of her actions should she decide not to was laid in front of her, Kat knew she would have a very easy choice to make.

"No one wants to think that. Kat, I know that you're frustrated with everything. I can't begin to understand what you're dealing with," Ann said with sincerity. "But please understand that just because you aren't told something isn't because you aren't trusted. It's because there are too many variables out there that could go wrong at this point."

"I know," Kat said quietly, looking down at the table. She finally understood that it wasn't because Ann didn't want to tell her anything, or that she was just another stupid mortal who did something crazy, but because there was something out there that could do worse then put a ring on. "I'm just tired of sitting here and twiddling my thumbs while Crystal is out there doing who knows what to my father and to whomever else is in a similar position. Now I need to go back to Kara's Keep to get this ring destroyed? Why don't I just parade around with a big target on my back?"

"You aren't the only one who doesn't like it; I think it's a big mistake that is being made. But it is not _my_ decision to make, I'm just following orders." Ann glanced quickly at the clock over the fridge before turning her attention back to Kat. "Like it or not you need to go there. The ring needs to be destroyed. The only thing that needs to be decided is if you are willing to take the chance to get it done the easy way or if it is to be done the hard way. It is not always clear cut on what we have to do but sometimes you just need to do what needs to be done."

Kat took in several more deep breaths. "How am I supposed to know what needs to be done?"

Ann's smile was genuine when she smiled. "You will. When you make your decision, it is done by your willingness to do it and not anyone else's. Now I think its best that you go home and rest, to think about it, and in the morning you'll give me your answer."

"One last question," Kat said as Ann stood up and pushed the chair back underneath the table. Her eyes flickered up to Ann as she nodded to go on. "What will happen to me after the ring is destroyed?"

"That, Kat, is not up to me to decide." Ann reached over and patted Kat on the shoulder before she walked away from the table and through the doorway to the lockers. Kat sat where she was after Ann had left, her gaze staring in the same direction that Ann had once been in, and her mouth working into a tight frown.

She had not thought about what would happen to her once the ring had either stopped believing she was the current master of it or it was destroyed. The general thought had been she would have a lot of time to come to a better understanding of the Ring of Two Souls, of how everything normal mortals couldn't comprehend, and would've been able to go further with her ring-given skills. She had thought she would see how the world moved as though she could ignore all the passing of time and not blink an eye about aging. Now all of that had come to a halt, all because Gaia wanted the ring to be destroyed much sooner than anticipated. But why had this order been given so soon? It had only been a few years since she had acquired the ring, shouldn't she have been given more time?

There _had_ to be a good explanation as to why the ring was suddenly deemed to be ready for destruction and it seemed like the Spirits around her weren't going to give her a decent answer. If she were to get any answers it wouldn't be from a Spirit but from the source itself and the only way she would get that information would be to go to Kara's Keep. No matter how much she didn't like it, no matter what had been said before, she would _have_ to go there to get everything sorted out.

Even if she had to make her own deals.

Until Next Time


	5. Chapter 4: Darkness Rising

Legends: Diversion

Disclaimer: **I do not own anything that is related, remotely related, or is in the game, **_Illusion of Gaia_**. It is owned by Enix and all related companies. All Original Characters, Stories, and anything that is not in, related to, or remotely related to the game, was solely created for creative and entertainment purposes. Thank you for your time.**

Chapter Four – **Darkness Rising**

_We are all something, but none of us are everything_ – **Blaise Pascal**

The sounds of the world around her had faded into a trickle of barely heard noise; it was as though everything had been toned down. Not even the colors of the trees or of the sky were as vibrant as they had been only moments before; coldness had taken the place of warmth. Even the sun had darkened to a dull grey, its rays clouded over as the transition from the living mortal world turned into the shifting reality that was the outer rims that the Underworld called 'home'. Only the mortals who knew what to look for, those with a higher count of Dark Essence in them, or the Spirits who called upon their expanded eyesight, could see the shifting shadows that surrounded those who were either keeping themselves hidden from the rest of the world or were traveling back into what the Underworld called 'home'.

The transition between the mortal world and the Underworld was not easy for those who had not done it before; it was just as dangerous to stay within the in-between realm as it was to do the transition for the first time. Everything was blurred between both worlds, it was impossible to tell where things were going if one should linger for too long in this shadowy world. No one lingered here for longer than a couple of minutes at the most, for it were lethal if any part of the Underworld or the mortal world came crashing into a transition. It had happened many times before and would happen several hundreds of times again; it was mistakes like this that cost the Underworld more than the Spirit world had ever done to it. This shadow realm was good to trap their enemies in while also allowing factions to dispose of unwanted allies in a way that would not link to any one faction; should a body appear from within this shadow realm, no questions were asked to link to anyone.

The lair of the Underworld could easily be described as a large cavern system, with doorways leading into long corridors and large, open stone rooms. There were fissures around certain points along the cavern system where one could come and go into the mortal and Underworld words as they pleased, so long as they knew how to transition from one plane to another. Many died on their first try; many more would die if their transition was interrupted from mortal world to this cavern system. This was still the easiest way into the Underworld's domain and the quickest but even the factions knew that there were others who could tell when someone came and went.

Most of the areas where the majority of the fissures were located where empty save for a few roaming rogues or sentries casually patrolling a corridor. Seldom did someone use the transitions on a daily basis however there was a single rogue who silently stalked from the fissure that she had taken from the mortal world. Moving from within the boundaries of the shadow realm, this rogue looked around the blandness around her. She paused only for a few seconds before turning into the darkness that was the Underworld realm. Despite glowing orbs of red, yellow, and blue hovering near the stone top of the realm, there was still a vast darkness to the world around her. Even after the years she had spent in this realm it took her some time to get used to the drop in light and color that the mortal world offered; she would never get used to the transition from color and light to darkness and neutral.

She walked quietly along the twists and turns that the Underworld gave her, passing only a few others; they ignored her as much as she ignored them. Unlike the rest, however, she did not look over her shoulder at the retreating forms to make sure she was not being followed as they had to her. Her face was expressionless as the stone around her however her black eyes were stormy and angry, narrowed and staring straight ahead. She held onto the fabric of her pants to keep herself from unleashing her anger into the corridor or onto whatever would be in her path. This also allowed her to calm herself as she walked on yet it yielded poor results: the further she walked, the more she pulled on the fabric to keep her anger in check.

It was only when she finally came to the dead end of the corridor, an hour and a half after coming from the mortal plane and passing many other corridors, rooms, and doorways, did she stop and let go of her pants. There were two males at the corridor's end, one was standing up and had turned as soon as she had come to a stop; the other was sitting on the hard ground, head down and drying blood on his hands and exposed wrists. It appeared he had tried to hurt himself trying to escape the confines of the Underworld's realm and had not succeeded. He did not look up to her when she had appeared, keeping his head down so that he would not look up at her; it was either a cowardice, he had been trained not to look up until he was spoken to, or he just did not want to even look at her. Whatever it was she didn't care, her eyes flickering from the man on the ground to the other that was now staring at her with a half-smile, half snarl.

He stood nearly a foot taller than she was, his eyes were just as black and cold as hers was but his pupils had specks of brown in them where hers did not. Muscles bulged out from his arms to chest and all the way down his body, a dark green shirt covered most of his chest and his pants were a loose black fabric. His boots were ragged and old, having not been replaced for numerous years to really count; in his own words he did not need to replace any of his clothing until they fell off his body in rags. Pushing a stray strand of blonde hair out from in front of his face, he casually looked down at the man who was now kneeling on the ground instead of sitting.

"Do look up, I hate to think that you'd want to stare at her feet all the time," he said in a hoarse voice that sounded as though he spoke very rarely. The woman smiled lightly, almost amused at the tone that this man took. The kneeling man did not look up, his body shaking as he forced his head to stay down; something was trying to pull him to look up but he was trying hard to push against that order. For this effort the standing man hit him on the back of the neck, for the little good it did only a blossoming bruise began to form.

"Shiro, dear, don't hurt him any more then he already has been," was the only thing that the woman gave as a warning. The other man, the one called Shiro, looked between the two before sneering and taking a step back. She didn't return the look, instead she walked forwards and knelt down in front of the second man and put two fingers underneath his chin. It took all of a second for her to physically raise this man's head up so that she could look directly at his face. "Michael, my sweet Michael, do you realize how far you've wandered?"

His blue eyes darted around for a moment before they found her face once again, his once full and handsome face had become shallow and old-looking in two years. His sandy blonde hair fell past his shoulders now, his body much smaller then what it once had, and his clothing was worn, torn, and unkempt. He hardly even slept, much less ate, unless he was told to; the woman in front of him had made him into what he was at that moment: a shadow of his former self. Even though he knew fully well that he was under her control, whether he willed it or not, he knew she still allowed him certain freedoms. With his latest attempt to flee, and the anger that he couldn't do anything more, he knew that whatever freedoms he had would be no more. Not that he had much to begin with but he had more than others who were forced to work for rogues or factions.

In other words, Michael Porter was, once again, back to where he had started two years prior: at the mercy of Crystal, the woman who knelt in front of him. And he despised every second of it.

She snarled at him as she turned her head away from him, standing up to turn to Shiro as the two of them walked further away from her puppet. Michael did not even attempt to get up, his head moving back down to face the ground; there were no invisible strings trying to pull him in the direction they were going. Both Crystal and Shiro giving him no more notice at the present moment, giving them a proper distance from them and him so that not only could they still keep him in their sights but also to talk more freely between themselves. Shiro stopped, keeping his back turned on him as the woman walked a few more steps forwards then spun around and glared at Shiro with a fury that only could be matched by his lack of caring.

"What has he been doing to himself?" Crystal demanded, gesturing at the man behind Shiro. "How did he get those marks on his fingers?"

"Nothing, this is how I found him earlier today. All in a lump," Shiro snapped at her. "I don't know how he got those marks on his wrists or on his fingers; it's not like he doesn't know how to use the fissures."

"He should not have gotten this far." Crystal tapped several fingers on her thigh, her level of fury rising faster then she could control. If she didn't control it soon she would find herself surrounded by the few sentries that patrolled this side of the Underworld plane. "How did you _let_ him get this far?"

Shiro shrugged, finding something much more interesting on the wall to his right then what the woman in front of him. "Not my fault you decided to let him roam free like this. Wasn't my turn to keep an eye on your puppet."

"Where's Eirian?" She asked coldly. Shiro stopped looking at the lines of the wall he had been staring at and glanced over to her.

"Hadn't seen him since this morning, not my problem. He's probably off doing whatever he does when he's not trailing after you like some dog." Shiro gave her another shrug at that, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face; he couldn't be bothered to play babysitter to everyone that this woman forced to her cause.

"Nothing is _ever_ your problem is it?" Crystal ignored his callous laughing as she looked in the direction of Michael. "No more food for him today, he's made me far more unpleasant and you're not helping, Shiro."

Shiro stopped laughing at that moment, taking the opportunity to turn half away around so that he could look between the two of them with ease. Since he had decided to go as a rogue instead of making ties with yet another Underworld faction, he hadn't bothered to learn all the details of anyone he went into service with. Even when he had been in one of the numerous factions Shiro only learned what he needed to, got what he wanted out of the faction, let that faction be destroyed, disband, or worse, then moved onto the next and the next. This was one of those times where he didn't need to know more than he had to yet his curiosity was getting the best of him.

When Shiro met Crystal a year and a half ago he had already heard numerous things about her from the other Underworld factions. There had been times when he had seen her at a distance but considering how vast the Underworld chain was, and that not every faction considered this plane of existence 'home', he had not bothered to actively seek her out. Because she had an interest in finding holes in Spirit defenses, or so she claimed, he took an instant liking to her. What he didn't realize until sometime later that she had a personal vendetta against one such person, but it had not been a _Spirit_ but rather a _mortal_. That in itself wasn't odd, her obsession with the mortal _was._

The Underworld kept an eye on the mortal realm, it was how they knew to recruit more members should the need arise or find relics that both the Underworld and Spirits missed. However Crystal's unhealthy obsession with one such mortal and the relic that one possessed, even unnerved Shiro to the point where he considered abandoning the cause altogether. What was more, was the fact that the man still kneeling at the dead end had some ties with this same mortal yet again he did not ask questions to answers he really didn't want to know or care to know. All Shiro knew was that Crystal wanted this mortal dead, the relic in her hands, and then it all would be over with. Or so he thought, if things had gone the way it had been intended from well before he ever stepped into the cause.

There had been set-backs to the whole thing from the moment that Shiro and others had joined her. The rest of the Underworld had taken a small liking to this same mortal but never had the same drive as Crystal had; the rest had better things to do then to go after a single mortal and a relic that had been around for the last several hundred years. That had never been one of Crystal's concerns; what was, was that there seemed to be more defenses around the center of her obsession. No Underworld-sided beings or persons could get near this mortal, to the point where it was impossible for anyone to get close enough to take the relic. The Spirits must have sensed that a faction or ten may have more than a passing interest in a small bauble and upped their defense around it. Or they understood that there was something out there that could do worse harm then kidnap a mortal.

The biggest thorn came not too long ago, when it was discovered through the spy network that this relic was slated to be destroyed. That sent the Underworld reeling but unlike the rest of the Underworld, of whom now lost complete interest in this relic, the more insane factions pieced together plans to take the relic before it was destroyed. The more stable factions found themselves doing what the Spirits were trying to accomplish: keep the insane factions busy and the relic safe. When Shiro heard _that_ he had first laughed then went and later found reasons to test his own limits on the deal he made with the Underworld.

Even now he found a surge of anger pass through him just thinking of what had become of the Underworld since he had first been initiated into it too many centuries to count. Had this happened even five centuries ago the whole force of the Underworld would have gone after this relic regardless of what the consequences were. Shiro understood what would happen if this order was so blindly ignored, however the thrill of seeing the Underworld fight amongst themselves and trying to prevent the relic from being destroyed was too good to pass up. He also wanted to see if it was true, that if one of Gaia's highest orders could be disregarded like that the world would end as it were.

However that was not what made Shiro stop laughing, or even give a long pause. It was the man at the dead end, the one who Crystal refused to let go. There had been numerous attempts to keep live puppets amongst the different factions, the majority of which often ended very badly for those involved. This was the longest known case where the live puppet hadn't imploded on itself and the one pulling the strings hadn't gone insane even by Underworld standards. The puppet was the only one becoming unstable, unpredictable, and, by the looks of it, uncontrollable. If Crystal could not keep control of her puppet then she shouldn't need to keep it around for much longer, her focus was needed elsewhere and not this pitiful creature. The Underworld did not look kindly on the weaker members, even if that one was a puppet.

"Why don't you just let him go? Clearly he's becoming unpredictable and unstable," Shiro said some time after Crystal had returned from checking upon Michael to make sure he was not trying to claw his way out of the wall where there was no fissure. She placed herself beside Shiro, her back to the only way out. "Why do you keep him around anyways? Not like your deal with the Underworld will kill you now it's been reset, I say kill him now."

She turned a glare on him. "Because he is how we'll get the Ring of Two Souls, because I want to see her _suffer_."

"You do realize just how much damage you'll do if you _get_ the Ring of Two Souls," a voice behind the two said from twenty feet away echoed. "It's slated to be destroyed, or have you forgotten?"

Crystal spun around when the owner of the voice came within five feet of where she and Shiro were standing, her eyes flaring up with anger. It took all of her power not to transform into her Underworld-given from and kill the third man in her presence; if she had no need for him she would have done so, damn the consequences. It wouldn't have been much of a kill either, considering the newcomer wouldn't have put up one himself; he apparently prided himself on not hitting, harming, or killing the opposite gender of himself. This was a rarity among men even in the mortal plane; in the Underworld it was a death sentence to anyone who refused to lift a weapon to any man or woman. She was surprised this one lasted as long as he had.

And he wasn't a particularly handsome man either, standing nearly a foot and a half taller than she was and with miss-matched eyes and no hair on his shaved head. His eyes, his left black and his right blue, moved between her, Shiro, and Michael behind them before returning back to Crystal once again. He wore a long sleeved shirt, tan pants, and shoes to match his shirt - ugly mortal clothes were what a common saying among the factions was. It did little to make his general appearance appeal to her any more than it had when he had come to her six months ago. His continuous verbal sparring matches with Shiro was grating on her last nerve and that was not something she wanted to listen to today.

"Where have you been, Eirian?" Crystal asked coldly. "I gave both of you an order to keep an eye on _him_."

"I don't take orders from the likes of _you_. Besides you didn't answer my questions." Eirian's eyes flickered to where Michael knelt, Crystal ignoring his attempts to try to get her to answer his questions.

"Then why are you still here, boy?" Shiro demanded, giving Eirian the glare Crystal did not bother to give. "If you don't like a woman in charge go away and find some rock to hide under, otherwise listen. Maybe you'll survive longer."

"And how long before you betray one of us when you've had enough?" He retorted. "How many factions have you seen to ashes?"

"More then you have. Besides I want to see how these events turn out so be thankful I haven't decided to kill you myself yet." He then turned his attention back to Crystal, whose self-control was slipping further. Already her fanged teeth were showing and parts of her arms were becoming scaly. "You have two factions and a host of rogues at your disposal, including the two of us. You don't need this little puppet. Kill him, get it over with, and take those who are willing to do your bidding."

"NO! I _will_ make him suffer in front of that _child_ who stole _my_ ring!" Crystal's voice had changed to a more hissing tone, her eyes flashing between her black eyes and gold-colored. Neither one backed away from her as they had seen her transform on more than one occasion. "If I cannot have it then I will make her suffer for it even if I have to take the whole planet down with me!"

Shiro looked between her and Eirian, and then shrugged. "Suit yourself; I'm not going to play nanny to him. I have a few things that have been put on hold because of your puppet, now if you'll just excuse me."

Crystal did not make a move to stop Shiro from leaving, as he walked past Eirian and continued on down the corridor and into the dark world of the Underworld beyond. Eirian considered following in Shiro's footsteps but thought better of it, it was not wise to leave Crystal by herself even with her puppet at her side. By this time Michael had stood up by his own accord, his head up but his blank eyes did not lift up to where the two of them stood. In a way Eirian felt sorry for the shell of a man yet that didn't go as far as to free him from the clutches of his master; that couldn't be done by him. To do so would feel the wraith of not only the woman in front of him but also the Underworld itself; unless he was provoked, any actions against her puppet would not fare well.

"As much as I hate to admit it, Shiro's right," Eirian said slowly, turning to Crystal. "He's just a burden, it's best to get rid of him. The sooner the better off you will be."

"Since when have the two of you _ever_ agreed on something?" Crystal's lips turned into a snarl. "I'm not going to get rid of him, I have my plans and they include this one."

"And since he's still considered alive he must eat otherwise he _will_ die before you can use him." His tone was dripping with pity for the poor soul Crystal forced to keep alive. "Just how do you plan on using a near-dead puppet when he has no strength to fight?"

Crystals' wide, evil grin made Eirian's stomach churn. "What makes you think he's going to be _fighting_?"

That question took Eirian by surprise, his eyes going wide as his mind worked over the question just asked. It had been rumored among the factions that had thrown in their lot with Crystal that she was training Michael to fight the mortal she was going after. By his appearance he didn't even look like could fight worth anything but appearances meant nothing. Someone who looked weak could very well be as strong as one member of the upper factions, but this was not one of those times. It should have not have come to such a surprise that Crystal wasn't going to use him as a fighting-type weapon.

"So he's the diversion then?" Eirian asked as calmly as he could once his surprise wore off. "To draw out your target?"

"Exactly that, the rogues and factions that have rallied to my cause are the ones that will do the fighting." Crystal's anger seemed to have dissipated enough that her eyes returned to their normal blackness and her fangs had disappeared. To him she seemed _pleased_ that someone other than herself had figured out her plan without her saying much. "I get her out, I take the ring, everything will fall into place just the way I planned it."

"By the shadows I hope so, because if it doesn't then we're all screwed." Eirian rubbed the back of his neck. "The rest of the Underworld doesn't like what's going on."

Crystal had started to return to Michael so that she could pull him back to whatever cage she had him in when she stopped in her tracks. It was known to her that the Underworld as a collective did not wish to end their existence on this planet; they only survived because there was this supposed 'balance' between good and evil, light and dark, that the Earth needed to have in order to survive. There were a few factions that had broken away from this collective of the Underworld and had tried, and failed, to stop whatever hellish plan Gaia had to destroy the ring that was rightfully Crystal's. They had failed once or twice but it did not mean they had stopped trying.

The Underworld was not stupid, should one of their factions find a way to undermine an order like this without consequence then it meant that whatever order was given, by a force of nature or by the more powerful factions, and then anything could be done. Crystal would be the one to find this way, she could feel it in her blood, but a reminder that any one of the other factions could come and kill her was not welcome. That thought was always at the back of her mind, she did not care to be reminded of it at all; she turned to Eirian, all calm on the outside but fighting to keep that calm in control on the inside.

"If you haven't noticed nothing has been done about it so why should I worry?" She asked, tilting her head to one side. "None of the other factions have stepped in to stop this form going forwards so why should I cower? Or are you going to leave now? Here you were accusing Shiro of doing just that only mere moments ago!"

"I have no plans on jumping ship, I am just warning you that there may be bigger consequences then you realize," he told her as he clasped his hands behind his back. "If whatever effect happens don't come crawling to me about it after I've warned you."

Crystal smiled at him. "It will be _you_ that will be crawling on your knees to _me_ when you're wrong."

Eirian inclined his head to her. "As you say."

Without speaking another word Eirian turned on his heels and walked away just as quickly as Shiro had. Crystal had a notion to go after him, to tell him that she wasn't finished with his insolence, when Michael moved up to her side. His haunted eye was watching the darkness in front of him, his gazing moving only when a ball of light moved on the ceiling above him. His mouth was slightly open, his face blank and expressionless as his eyes was; two years ago he had been full of life, full of energy. Now all he could do was follow blindly his mistress that even Crystal knew he despised doing it, it gave her great joy to see any flicker of hatred in his eyes towards her and there was nothing he could do about it.

Turning to him she wrapped a hand over his boney arm and examined his bloody wrist and fingers. Frowning Crystal inspected them more closely and saw that they didn't appear as though Michael had either intentionally hurt himself or had been clawing at the solid walls. Instead the wounds appeared to have been made by someone else with a finer tool, like a small carving knife. They were precise, done by a steady hand - of which Michael did not currently possess. Had this happened when he had his own free will then she would have assumed he did it to himself; this wasn't then and he certainly did not have the flexibility in his fingers to hold even a small dagger in his hands without dropping it.

Cursing to herself, Crystal dropped his arm and begun to walk in the direction she had come. Michael followed her blindly on, his orders ringing at the back of his mind; no matter what he tried to do he could not disobey them. She would find out how her puppet received his wounds but at the present time she had better things to do to worry about him.

Until Next Time


	6. Chapter 5: Return

Legends: Diversion

Disclaimer: **I do not own anything that is related, remotely related, or is in the game, **_Illusion of Gaia_**. It is owned by Enix and all related companies. All Original Characters, Stories, and anything that is not in, related to, or remotely related to the game, was solely created for creative and entertainment purposes. Thank you for your time.**

Chapter Five – **Return**

_The great thing in this world is not so much where we stand, as in what direction we are moving_ – **Oliver Wendell Holmes**

Kat stepped off of the boat and onto the dock of the island, pulling a backpack over her shoulders as she took in her surroundings. In the two years since she had been gone from the island nothing much had changed, it still went about its own pace even as the world around it changed rapidly. Everything about the island she loved: the remoteness, the near quiet, and the people that called the island 'home'. It was easy to see why her father made this place his retreat from the rest of civilization and where Kat could come and go as she pleased, just like Michael had up until two years prior. She wondered how the islanders would react to her presence now that she had returned after a few years of not coming back. It wasn't long before she found that out.

Moments after she had stepped off the dock was she greeted and surrounded by a group of the natives. Kat spoke to each of them, giving and receiving hugs and warm greetings; each person expressed how they had missed her and were glad she had returned. They spoke little of her father but it was not on his death: they, like her, had no desire to bring that up on her return. It was the good things they talked about, how welcome a sight Kat was, and that her home was ready for her to come into. Even after two years it was a relief to know that the home Michael had built was still standing, in good condition, and all the contents Kat had left on her last visit was still there. Even with the reassurances that only a slight bit of dusting she had to make sure that nothing else had been taken out.

After ten minutes of catching up the natives said farewell, leaving Kat feeling less worried about being not welcomed back and more at ease then she had been on the trip to the island chain. Smiling, Kat turned around to face her traveling companion who was watching her intently with arms crossed over his chest and grey eyes moving from her to the retreating natives then back at her. Kat had to laugh at how out of place Sage seemed to be on the island; he would have been more at home in New York City or some other big city instead of an island that time seemed to have forgotten. And his weariness of the island didn't help him, either and she didn't blame him one bit. When she had come to this island for the first time herself, Kat hadn't known what to make of it; now it was a part of her as much as it had been with her father.

Kat had been true to her word when she and Ann had spoken; she had gone to work the next morning and gave her decision to Ann: she _would_ go back to Kara's Keep. But Sage had to come with her to the island and would be the only Spirit to do so; with the exception of Freedan and/or Shadow should they happen to cross paths with them on Kara's Keep but she had kept that part to herself. Ann hadn't liked that very much but agreed to pass that information along with Kat's acceptance of allowing the ring to be destroyed. It was near the end of her shift when Ann had told her that her one and only demand was accepted and that she should be getting ready to return to Kara's Keep as soon as Ann was notified that everything was in place and that it could very likely take some time to get proper protection in place.

Nearly two weeks had passed before Kat was given two plane tickets for the following week, by then she had nearly worn out the carpets in her apartment. She had walked the length of the living room and small kitchen numerous times at all hours, even her bedroom had not gotten away with her throwing things at the walls in frustration. She had thought that perhaps the Spirits had forgotten all about her and the ring really wasn't slated to be destroyed, that Sage and Ann had gotten together to stage a horrible prank on her, or, in the worst case possible, something in the Underworld had delayed everything. When the plane tickets had arrived, by a very confused UPS worker, Kat just laughed, signed for the tickets, and closed the door. It was a relief that she would actually be going somewhere that she didn't feel so confined.

There was little for her to pack for her trip to the island, most of the belongings she needed she hoped were still in the home that she had shared with her father. She knew she couldn't take the things she really needed for Kara's Keep - knives, tracking devices, and anything else she would need - on a plane, there would be too many questions involved for her comfort. Even if Sage was a Spirit and could allow certain things to be bypassed, Kat wasn't going to take that chance; if she needed anything then she would have to either hope it was still on the main island or buy it at the port. The boat captains wouldn't ask too many questions of Kat, most of them knew who she was even if it had been two years since she had been to the port.

Sage hadn't enjoyed being pulled into this further, his dour expression very apparent when Ann, along with several Spirits, dropped her off at the airport and found him already there. He hadn't brought much for himself either: a few changes of clothes, a compass, and a few items that Kat hadn't seen before. She was surprised that what he had brought had gotten past the security screening, Kat secretly hoping that it was because of his Spirit abilities and not just someone ignoring painfully obvious items that were not what a mortal person should be bringing onto a plane. Sage said nothing of it when asked, quietly keeping his distance during the whole flight to the city where they would take a taxi to the port the next day and, from there, a boat to the main island. He just kept to himself for the most part, giving her sour looks every chance he got when Kat wasn't looking.

They hadn't spoken very much until they were at the port, a day and a half later; they had spent the night before at a hotel since the plane hadn't landed until close to four in the afternoon. By then Sage looked as though he was about to either strangle Kat, bolt for the nearest taxi and not look back, or both. Kat hadn't understood what was making him on edge until she realized she hadn't taken the Ring of Two Souls off the whole time that they were on the plane. For some reason it made Sage snarl and snap at her, something that hadn't happened when they had been in close proximity before. So when they went into their room, Kat slipped the ring into her backpack so that it wouldn't cause any more disturbances between the two. If the ring was making him this edgy then it would be best for her to have it stowed away.

He had walked out for a few hours after they had settled into their room, presumably to get away from her, the ring, and everything else so that he didn't have to look at it. When he had returned three hours later Sage had brought food from a nearby cafe, calmer but was still looking like he rather be somewhere else then where he was. Although glad to know that the ring was put away, he still didn't seem to like being _that_ close to it but said nothing about where the ring was hidden. He remained quiet about it even as they ate, got ready for bed, and slept; Kat tossed and turned for the better part of the night and had only managed to get three hours of sleep. By the time they had gotten up, dressed, and were halfway to the port Kat was ready to sleep the rest of the way there.

It hadn't taken them long to find a boat that was going to the island, there had been only a few hours wait until they could board. Kat took this opportunity to buy the things she thought she would need: knives, spare canteens, blankets, a tent, and anything else that she needed. Sage had commented that she was taking too many things with them, Kat retorting that it was better to go prepared then not have anything. Besides, it was still an island that had no basic necessities so she had to be prepared in case something went wrong that wasn't Underworld- or Spirit-based. He hadn't commented on her purchase further, silent as he had been on the flight over. She saw his eyes darting around the port, as though he expected a faction or two to jump out from the docks at any given moment and seemed to be glad that they were soon ushered onto the boat. That or he was painfully aware that he was most likely the only Spirit within twenty miles.

Kat was grateful that neither one spoke very much on the boat over to the island, having taken another opportunity to get at least a few hours extra sleep. A half hour before they were to arrive to the main island Sage had woken her up so that she could make herself presentable and not someone who had just woken up from a nap. By the time the boat had docked Kat was ready to step back onto the island that she had left behind. And she was glad to be back there, for it was a place where she could get away from everyday life and just take in the quiet life that the natives led. She just hoped that whatever the Underworld may decide to throw at her, it wouldn't disturb this island paradise.

"Looks like you have a lot of friends here, still," Sage commented as he walked next to her along a path through the island. Many of the natives stopped and greeted her along the way, Kat smiling and returned the greeting as the two passed. She took note that the island hadn't changed much, if any, and was glad that it remained almost the same since she had last been there two years ago.

"It's been a while since I last was here, hasn't changed much. But I'm glad that I can still call this place home." Kat ran her fingers along a tree they walked by, Sage turning around as they walked to try and look at everything at once. Laughing she pointed out a few things to him, stopping at random places so that Sage could get a better look at island life. She was surprised at how much she remembered of the daily chores the islanders had, despite not being there for some time.

"You should've been able to come back here sooner, even under the circumstances," he said quietly after they started walking towards what was now Kat's home. Glancing at him, she wondered if he was really saying that to make her feel better or just commented on her inability to leave her own city. Although she didn't say it out loud she agreed with him, she should've been able to come back even if she had a hoard of Spirits surrounding her. But she remained quiet on her agreement with him, she didn't know if he would fall over from the shock if she did tell him.

"I wasn't able to, all because of the ring." She patted her backpack, where she had put the ring into a pouch inside and kept it out of view. "I'm surprised I've been allowed to come _this_ far."

"Wish it was under better circumstances." Sage tugged on his bag, ignoring the odd look Kat was giving him. "Which one is Kara's Keep? It can't be this one; there are too many people on it."

Kat laughed. "Even if it were I doubt anyone from the Underworld would care. No, it's one of the last ones in this chain, we passed it on the way."

"Can't you be quiet about that? It's not a good idea to talk about such things in front of mortals." Sage looked around at the natives that were paying them no mind and were going about their daily lives. Even though the two were nearing her home there were still natives around them; had they been anywhere else she would've agreed with him. "I would be more comfortable if they didn't find out that I'm a Spirit, either."

"These people are descended from numerous ancient races, from Mayans to Incans and possibly even older cultures then those. They all know of the battles that were fought outside the scope of general human understanding, many of which probably were descended _from_ those who fought them," she told him. "I would not be surprised if there were a handful that has a high amount of Dark Essence in them. Besides the tribal council knows full well what happened on Kara's Keep."

Sage stopped walking, Kat taking a few steps before she turned around to look at him square in the eye when she realized he wasn't walking with her. His normally placid face became cloudy with anger, his eyes narrowed at her and his mouth set into a thin line. She didn't blame him one bit for his anger, the last thing that he needed to hear was that she had spoken to a group of people about things that had happened on another island. But there had been little choice in the matter, had she not she most likely would not have had the same kind of greeting she had when they had stepped foot back onto the main island. Besides the council was not the type of governing body to spill secrets like this and had made damn well sure that whatever happened on the island chain did not reach the ears of any other governing body.

"You _told_ them?" He asked quietly, Kat nodding quickly. "Why?"

"And what was I supposed to do? I had just come from Kara's Keep, my father had been taken hostage by the previous master of this ring, and I was not in a state of mind to do any different," she snapped at him. "I wouldn't be surprised if the whole island knows by now."

"That's just great, wonderful." Sage glared at her as he began to pace back and forth. "Do you realize that if your story gets to any other place in this world you'll be setting yourself up for disaster? And I'm not talking about what the Underworld or Spirits know."

Kat growled at him, perfectly aware that she knew he wasn't talking about what the other planes of existence knew about her, the ring, and what may or may not have occurred on Kara's Keep. The rest of the world most likely didn't even _know_ this island chain existed and believed that Michael Porter was, for all intent and purpose, _dead_. Heck she didn't even know if her father was still alive! The rest of the world probably didn't even _care_ what went on this island chain, thinking that whatever stories came from here were only campfire legends passed down from generation to generation. She had thought so too, until she had been caught up in one such legend herself. Besides, she knew full well if anything got out that wasn't considered _normal_, she already had enough dealing with authorities on her father's "death" alone.

"Even if it _did_ I doubt it would be taken seriously," she stated as calmly as she could without stepping in front of Sage and smacking some sense into him. "There is a lot of rich storytelling here; you should listen to some of them before we leave for the other island."

"And how exactly are we going to get there?" Sage stopped his pacing and looked at her, an odd expression coming onto his face as though he was just realizing that there was nothing waiting for them to take them to Kara's Keep. "The boat we were on is leaving for the port and we aren't just going to swim there now are we?"

"The council will get us a boat there, so long as I make a case for you to be there." It hadn't dawned on her until that moment when she realized that Sage may not be able to set foot on that island. The council had made it clear that it would only allow her to go to Kara's Keep and no one else; she supposed the fear of anyone else going there would be harmed like others had.

Sage blinked at her, confused. "Why just me and not you as well?"

"Because they are only allowing _me_ to go back to the island," Kat pointed out, hoping that she could find a lie or two on how she could've forgotten that piece of information. "Plus they understand that I have a long-standing connection with that island, with the ring and all."

"And you didn't mention this until now?" Sage stared at her coldly. "What will you tell them about me?"

"No one tells me anything so why should I have mentioned that?" She asked, shrugging. "I'll say you're one of my trainers and insisted that I train on Kara's Keep. I doubt that they'll prod but it would be best to stand before them and tell them what you intend to do on the island. Not the truth, but what my training will be like. But that is just is if I need you to be there."

"So what if they do decide to prod, then what?" Sage asked as Kat continued to walk on, following her. "How are we going to get to the island?"

"How well can _you_ swim?" Kat was glad that her back was turned on him, as it helped to keep her smirk from showing. Sage didn't find this in anyway amusing, instead of a retort he chose to remain quiet for the rest of the quick walk to where Kat had last left her island home. It was still standing there, waiting for her to come back home, her steps moving into a jog. It didn't take her long to walk up the steps to the cabin, her eyes sweeping along the railings, woodwork, and general aura of the home she had shared with her father up until that fateful trek.

She was glad that she remembered to hide a spare key somewhere along the outer ridges of the cabin and it was not long before her fingers found the key underneath an upturned wooden box. After a moment of unlocking the door Kat hesitated, hand holding onto the doorknob; it had been two years since she had been in this house and she was just as, if not more, frightened about entering then she had when she first stepped inside as a child. The elders were kind enough to keep the electricity on inside, allowing the few basic items inside to keep a continuous loop of energy. She knew there were no food items stored inside, she had made sure that nothing humans would considered edible remained inside; she only kept a few other things inside that would be of importance to her should she return.

It took another couple of minutes, and Sage's worried look, for Kat to push the door open and stepped inside. The first thing she did was turn flip the light switch to the kitchen on as she made her way inside, the light on the ceiling flickering before staying completely on. Stepping inside Kat looked around, took in a deep breath, and smiled. The kitchen and living room remained the same except for a layer of dust, the overstuffed chairs and couch had the sheets over them to protect them from the dust, and everything else that Kat had left behind was still there. The feeling of relief that everything was still there vanished quickly, they had only stepped into one part of the house and there were still other places to look inside to make sure that nothing had been moved.

Putting her bag down onto the kitchen floor, Kat moved around the kitchen to make sure water still came from the faucet, the small mini-fridge still worked, and every light fixture, lamp, and radio in the living room turned on. Once she was certain not one book had been taken from the small bookcase she left behind, Kat went onto the room she had once claimed as her bedroom to make sure everything she left behind - from the trekking items she had left on her bed to the things she had hidden under the floor board - was still there. Nothing had moved, nothing had changed, and it was one less worry she had on her mind.

Her father's bedroom was next, this took longer for her to go through her own bedroom had. She made sure before she had left to burn every inch of this room into her memory so that on the off chance she returned, she could remember everything there was inside. The bed was still the same, the closet was still empty, and everything was in its place - the only part that was missing was Michael himself. She shut her eyes for a moment as she traced the chest of drawers before her hand hit upon something metal; opening her eyes she looked down to see a metal picture frame and an old picture staring at her.

Emotions took over as Kat sat on her father's bed, holding the picture of herself, her father, and her brother on a trip to a zoo; tears stung her eyes as she looked at the picture. It was one of the few pictures she had left behind just so she could have _something_ to look back at and remember her father as he had been, it hurt her that there was nothing she could do still to help him. This picture had been taken at a simpler time when she had no idea that anything else existed besides what normal mortals knew, when there had been no Ring of Two Souls, Spirits, Underworld factions, or anything that now was a reality.

"Kat? Is everything okay?" Sage asked as he appeared in the doorway, looking concerned when Kat hadn't appeared from the bedroom after some time. Kat looked up in surprise, wiping away the tears from her cheeks as Sage came into the room and sat down on the bed next to her. She had completely forgotten he was with her, having been lost in her memories and had not realized she had spent longer in her father's room then she had in her own bedroom.

"Yea, everything is fine," she said hoarsely, faking a smile that even her own mother could tell was forced. "I was just looking around here, making sure everything was okay."

Sage gave her a hard look that told her he wasn't fooled, looking down at the picture she held in her hands. "Is that him?"

"Yes, this was taken a couple of years ago. My brother had wanted to go to the zoo for a while and eventually my father gave in. My brother is a far cry from what I and my father are like, so asking repeatedly to go to the zoo was something all of us could enjoy," she said before she could stop herself, brushing her fingers over the picture. "I think our uncle also went with us on this trip."

Kat blinked back her tears, surprised at how easily she spoke of the picture to a complete stranger, one that most likely didn't even _remember_ his _own_ family. Her talking about a single day that only happened a few years ago could very easily be taken a slap in the face for Sage, she still knew very little about him. Sage didn't say anything for a few minutes, studying the picture in more detail as he looked it over, as though he was trying to burn the image of Michael into his mind before he looked at Kat with a sad smile.

"I'm sorry that you can't make any more memories like this with your father," he said quietly, taking the picture from her hands, standing up, and putting it back upon the dresser. He then turned to her and leaned up against the dresser, his arms crossed over his chest; although his stance was now indifferent, his mixed expression of sadness and hopefulness remained on his face.

"Don't be," Kat said with a wave of her hand. "There's nothing that could've been done, except for me not being stupid and putting the ring on in the first place."

"No, you're _not_ stupid for that," Sage said with the same tone he had used when they had first met, back in the food court. Kat opened her mouth to say something about that but he just kept talking before she could even get a single word out. "The ring knows things, I'm sure you've been told that before. I think it knew it would eventually find its way to a new master, one that wouldn't use it like so many others had. It may not have known you were its next one but you _are not_ going to beat yourself over putting it on. I'm sure your father wouldn't want you to be feeling sorry for yourself over something outside your control."

Kat knew that there were words that she wanted to say in response to that but they would not come; it sounded like something _Freedan_ would say, not _Sage_. Even so she knew her father would not want her to be sitting her, thinking about what she could've done instead of what she had actually done to the point where she doubted herself. Sitting here crying over what she had once only would make things worse, not better and nothing else would get done while she was feeling sorry for herself. She wouldn't have known that the ring her father had given her was an old relic that everything following that action would have happened. Besides, she knew that there were things she had to do and once she got her father out of Crystal's clutches he could finally rest in peace and move into whatever afterlife he chose for himself.

"You sound like some inspirational sap, have you ever been told that?" Kat asked after several minutes of silence. Sage's face lit up as he grinned widely.

"Didn't think I had it in me to be all sentimental," he said lightly, pushing himself away from the dresser. Whatever his intentions were, Kat felt herself feeling slightly better; she stood up and stretched, taking one last look around her father's bedroom before she moved out into the living room and found her way to one of the overstuffed chairs that she was so fond of.

"Whatever you were trying for, it worked," she said as Sage followed her but instead of sitting on the other chair, sat down on the couch and put both of his hands onto the cushions. "Mostly."

"Good," he said, leaning back into the couch. "I'm sure you're just as tired and hungry as I am."

In truth Kat _was_ getting hungry, the last thing she had eaten was before they had gotten onto the boat. Since there was nothing in the cabin she would have to find something around to barter for food with, anything that didn't hold some value to her. There were a few items she still had stored underneath the floor board, a few things she had bought at the port for the trip over to Kara's Keep, that she could barter with but little else. She didn't even know how long it would be before the two of them could get passage over there, if they could at all; she was still unsure if the council still would allow her to go over there. She could think of a few things that she could use that would last them a week at the most, after that it would be just finding the right amount of bartering labor for food.

That was the last thing on her mind, getting over to Kara's Keep. Sage was right: she was not only hungry but tired as well, physically as well as emotionally. Kat hadn't realized how many memories this place still held for her until she entered the cabin but they were all good memories and if it took every last bit of energy for her to force herself to remember that, she would do it regardless of the cost. But she couldn't rest now; she still had to look through her father's study/storage room before she could allow herself to rest.

"My father's study is the only other room in this house that I haven't looked through, I don't even know if his computer still works or not." _That_ would be a long undertaking to put it mildly; the majority of her father's notes were on that computer and the hard drives. "Almost all of his previous expedition notes are on that and the external hard-drives."

Sage suddenly sat up quickly, his face showing interest. "Could I look through them? Just to see if there is anything that makes sense to me that may not to you."

Kat frowned, glancing over towards the Spirit. Since Michael had kept a computerized version of his notes he had barely even let his own _daughter_ look at them much less anyone _else_, she was unsure if she should even let Sage access to the notes. Whatever was in those notes were just things he had experienced in his treks, old relics he had found, donations of time, artifacts, and money he had given to various museums. Old ideas he had, mistakes he had made that he wouldn't make again, things of that nature. She also knew that there were a few entries in one of the hard-drives that he didn't even _want_ her to see.

Then her eyes went wide and she sat up just as quickly as Sage had. Maybe there _were_ things in her father's notes that a _Spirit_ could make better sense of then a mortal could! It didn't register in her mind that her father's notes on old relics could also help the Spirits out by possibly locating _other_ relics that may have some sort of Dark Essence in them like the Ring of Two Souls had. Was it even possible that her father had written down how and where he had gotten the ring from and she hadn't realized it until _now_? Suddenly these notes were just as valuable as the ring was, if not more; if they could shed light on the ring, then how the ring fell into her father's possession would clear that up right away.

"I don't remember what's on them but if you want to you can, maybe there _is_ something you would understand better then I can." Kat turned her head to him. "You do know how to use a computer, right?"

"Yes, as long as you hook up these, um, hard-drives." Sage gave her a weak smile that wasn't as reassuring as he would have liked to believe. But if this was one of the only chances a Spirit had in looking at old notes, risks would have to be taken.

"He has several of them and it could take a while just to look through his hand-written notes," Kat advised seriously, nodding more to herself then to Sage. "After all, he did take a lot of them and some of the things he found are in museums."

"Don't want to look at them all, just some." Sage tilted his head to one side. "Maybe in the morning I can, when you're talking to the council?"

Kat thought about that for a moment, her eyes looking around the living room and kitchen. It was too late for either one of them to be looking through old pieces of paper and her trying to set-up a computer that she didn't even know worked after a number of years of being out of use. The council would not be likely to even want to talk to her at this time, despite knowing well ahead of time that she had returned to the island. It would give Sage and her time to do what they needed to do, if they could get it all done before they _had_ to go to the island. If worst came to worst they would have to find another way to get onto the island, with or without council approval.

"Sounds like a plan," Kat said as she stood up, hoping that Sage didn't see the unease on her face. "Now, let's get something to eat. Can't rest while hungry now can we?"

Until Next Time


End file.
